Tongue twisters that will make you laugh out loud! Super funny

Eat lemon and melon with Remioromen Lumion

[Tongue Twister Navi] Eating lemons and melons as Remioromen, in a Lumion | Japanese Tongue Twisters | Hayakuchi Kotoba |

This is a passage that describes Remioromen eating melon and lemon, as well as Lumion who supported them.

Each word shares phonetic similarities, and the gap between those similarities and the differences makes it tricky to pronounce.

Let’s pay close attention to the frequent use of the ra-gyo sounds, where tongue movement is important, and check the shape of the mouth one by one.

It also seems that sounds like the small “o” mouth shape and the “n” sound, which requires closing the lips, make the tongue movements for the ra-gyo more difficult.

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kappamaki

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Searching for Jeju Island in an atlas

[Tongue Twister Navigator] Searching for Jeju Island in an Atlas | Japanese Tongue Twisters | Hayakuchi Kotoba

It’s a tongue twister built solely on the fact that two words—Jeju Island in Korea and “atlas”—sound similar.

The crucial point is whether each character takes a small diacritic-like mark.

What changes most with those small marks is how you release your breath: when the small marks are present, make sure to release your breath more firmly as you pronounce.

It might be interesting to experiment with different breath releases and see how it sounds.

Despite its simple structure, it’s a tongue twister that teaches the relationship between words and breath.

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kappamaki

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If I talk, I talk.

There are tongue twisters that people living in a given region can say with ease.

For example, in the Tohoku region—if you live in Aomori Prefecture—you can say the tongue twister “shabereba shabettatte shaberairu.” …It’s quite long, so I’ll leave it at that, but for those unfamiliar with it, it probably feels impossible to say.

It’s impressive that it still makes perfect sense.

Your area might have its own unique tongue twisters too, so why not look them up? Who knows—maybe one of them is listed somewhere in this article…?

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Araki Jakkan

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A past where I almost tripped during a footrace

[Tongue Twister Navi] A Past Where I Almost Tripped in a Footrace | Japanese Tongue Twisters | Hayakuchi Kotoba

This is a tongue twister built around the phrase “kokekaketa” (about to trip/fall).

Since it mostly uses k- sounds like “kakekko,” “kokekaketa,” and “kako,” you end up getting confused as you repeat it.

A tip: put extra emphasis on the “de” and “ta” parts to make it easier to pronounce.

By the way, many people think kokeru means “to fall” only in the Kansai dialect, but it’s actually standard Japanese.

Also, if you think about it, it uses some interesting grammatical constructions, so pay attention to that too.

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yamamoto

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Magma Ambassador’s mom is Mama Magma Ambassador.

[Tongue Twister Navi] Magma Ambassador’s Mama — Mama Magma Ambassador | Japanese Tongue Twisters | Hayakuchi Kotoba

When pronouncing sounds in the “ma” row (ma, mi, mu, me, mo), you need to close your lips once and then open them, so saying them repeatedly trains your mouth movement.

Here’s a tongue twister themed on “Ambassador Magma” that incorporates a series of “ma” sounds.

The phrase that appears toward the end, “ma-ma-Magma Ambassador,” may seem difficult because of the repeated “ma,” but the key to this tongue twister is the “magma” part.

You alternate between the lip opening-and-closing required for the “ma” sounds and the lip-rounding for the “gu,” so to articulate it clearly, it’s important to stay mindful of your mouth movements.

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kappamaki

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If it’s Nara, go with a slow crawl.

[Question for Otoha] If it's Nara, go with a slow drive [Tongue Twister #70] #Shorts

It’s a tongue twister that sounds like advice: if you’re going to Nara, you should drive slowly at a reduced speed.

Since it only advises on driving speed, you can’t help but wonder what the reason is.

The expression “noro-noro” (slowly) is another point of interest—it makes you feel there’s some intention behind telling you to slow down so much.

The difficulty comes from the repeated similar sounds, like “Nara nara” and “noro-noro,” so it’s important to pay attention to your mouth shape here.

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kappamaki

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Prince Shōtoku isn’t a big deal anyway.

[Tongue Twister Navi] Prince Shotoku Isn’t a Big Deal | Japanese Tongue Twisters | Hayakuchi Kotoba

This is a tongue twister that insists Prince Shōtoku—who is passed down as one of Japan’s great figures—isn’t anything special.

Because it negates a great person from an older era, it also raises the question of what exactly it’s rebelling against.

The sentence-ending “naishi” is striking too, giving the impression of bravado, as if claiming to be superior oneself.

The scattered, similar-sounding words “Taishi,” “taishita koto,” and “naishi” make it hard to say.

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kappamaki

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